Alcohol compositions and a process for their production

Abstract

An alcohol product composition is provided that may be used directly for blending with existing fuel sources. More specifically, the alcohol product composition includes ethanol and organic compositions which act as a denaturant. Further, a process for production of ethanol compositions is provided that includes providing a permeate to a distillation tower, removing an ethanol draw-off composition from the distillation tower, removing a side draw from the distillation tower to provide side-draw composition, combining the ethanol draw-off composition and side-draw composition to provide an alcohol composition

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An alcohol product composition comprising:
 about 92 weight percent or more ethanol;   about 0.5 to about 8 weight percent organic composition;   about 1 weight percent or less water; and   about 0.5 weight percent or less organic acid.   
     
     
         2 . The composition of  claim 1  wherein the organic composition is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, isobutanol, pentanol, hexanol, propanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, fatty acids, esters and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The composition of  claim 1  wherein the organic composition further includes one or more hydrocarbons. 
     
     
         4 . The composition of  claim 3  wherein the one or more hydrocarbons includes gasoline. 
     
     
         5 . The composition of  claim 2  wherein the organic composition is substantially n-butanol. 
     
     
         6 . The composition of  claim 5  wherein the alcohol product composition includes about 0.5 weight percent to about 6 weight percent n-butanol. 
     
     
         7 . The composition of  claim 1  wherein the organic acid is selected from the group consisting of acetic acid, butyric acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, malic acid, ethanoic acid, propionic acid, succinic acid, oxalic acid, lactic acid, fumaric acid, glutaric acid, formic acid, citric acid, uric acid, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The composition of  claim 1  wherein the alcohol composition has less than about 0.5 weight percent gasoline. 
     
     
         9 . A process for producing an alcohol product composition, the process comprising:
 providing a permeate to a distillation tower;   removing an ethanol draw-off composition from the distillation tower;   removing a side draw from the distillation tower to provide side-draw composition;   combining the ethanol draw-off composition and side-draw composition to provide a alcohol composition having more than 1 weight percent water; and   dehydrating the alcohol composition to provide an alcohol product composition having at about 92 weight % or more ethanol, about 1 weight % or less water, about 0.5 to about 8 weight percent organic composition, and about 0.5 weight percent or less organic acid.   
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 9  wherein the permeate includes from about 1 to about 5 weight percent ethanol. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 10  wherein the permeate is provided from a fermentation of a CO-containing gaseous substrate. 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 11  wherein the fermentation is effective for providing a STY of at least about 10 g total alcohol/(L·day). 
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 11  wherein the fermentation is effective for providing a STY of at least about 10 g ethanol/(L·day). 
     
     
         14 . The process of  claim 9  wherein the organic composition is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, isobutanol, pentanol, hexanol, propanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, fatty acids, esters and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The process of  claim 14  wherein the organic composition is n-butanol. 
     
     
         16 . The process of  claim 15  wherein the alcohol product composition includes about 0.5 weight percent to about 6 weight percent n-butanol. 
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 9  wherein the organic acid is selected from the group consisting of acetic acid, butyric acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, malic acid, propionic acid, succinic acid, oxalic acid, lactic acid, fumaric acid, glutaric acid, formic acid, citric acid, uric acid, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         18 . A bioethanol product comprising:
 about 92 weight percent or more ethanol;   about 0.5 to about 8 weight percent organic composition;   about 1 weight % or less water; and   
       about 0.5 weight percent or less organic acid, wherein the bioethanol product is produced by a process that includes
 fermenting a CO-containing substrate and separating a permeate from the fermentation; 
 providing the permeate to a distillation tower; 
 removing an ethanol draw-off composition from the distillation tower; 
 removing a side draw from the distillation tower to provide side-draw composition; and 
 combining the ethanol draw-off composition and side-draw composition to provide a alcohol composition having more than 1 weight percent water; and dehydrating the alcohol composition to provide the bioethanol product. 
 
     
     
         19 . The composition of  claim 18  wherein the permeate includes from about 1 to about 5 weight percent ethanol. 
     
     
         20 . The composition of  claim 18  wherein the organic composition is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, isobutanol, pentanol, hexanol, propanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, fatty acids, esters and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         21 . The composition of  claim 20  wherein the organic composition is n-butanol. 
     
     
         22 . The composition of  claim 21  wherein the bioethanol product composition includes about 0.5 weight percent to about 6 weight percent n-butanol. 
     
     
         23 . The composition of  claim 18  wherein the organic acid is selected from the group consisting of acetic acid, butyric acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, malic acid, propionic acid, succinic acid, oxalic acid, lactic acid, fumaric acid, glutaric acid, formic acid, citric acid, uric acid, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         24 . A process for producing an alcohol product composition, the process comprising:
 fermenting a CO-containing gaseous substrate to produce a first alcohol composition;   purifying part or all of the first alcohol composition to produce a second alcohol product composition having about 92 weight percent or more ethanol; about 0.5 to about 8 weight percent organic composition; about 1 weight % or less water; and about 0.5 weight percent or less organic acid.   
     
     
         25 . The process of  claim 24  wherein purifying is selected from the group consisting of dehydration, filtration and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         26 . The process of  claim 24  wherein the first alcohol composition includes from about 1 to about 5 weight percent ethanol. 
     
     
         27 . The process of  claim 24  wherein the first alcohol composition is provided from a fermentation of a CO-containing gaseous substrate. 
     
     
         28 . The process of  claim 27  wherein the fermentation is effective for providing a STY of at least about 10 g total alcohol/(L·day). 
     
     
         29 . The process of  claim 27  wherein the fermentation is effective for providing a STY of at least about 10 g ethanol/(L·day). 
     
     
         30 . The process of  claim 24  wherein the organic composition is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, isobutanol, pentanol, hexanol, propanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, fatty acids, esters and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         31 . The process of  claim 30  wherein the organic composition is n-butanol. 
     
     
         32 . The process of  claim 31  wherein the alcohol product composition includes about 0.5 weight percent to about 6 weight percent n-butanol. 
     
     
         33 . The process of  claim 24  wherein the organic acid is selected from the group consisting of acetic acid, butyric acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, malic acid, propionic acid, succinic acid, oxalic acid, lactic acid, fumaric acid, glutaric acid, formic acid, citric acid, uric acid, and mixtures thereof.